France to cut number of MPS by a third as Macron pushes through campaign pledge

FRANCE will cut its number of MPS by almost a third and introduce a degree of proportional representation for the next elections.

The measures, broadly in line with campaign promises by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, are the result of an agreement between his government and the head of the opposition-controlled Senate, whose support is essential to pass the reforms.

Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, said the reforms, if approved, would speed up the political process and give more of a voice to groups currently under-represented in parliament. “These bills will contribute to a deep renovation of political and parliamentary life, in a spirit of responsibility, representativity and efficiency,” Mr Philippe said.

The number of MPS – at both the lower house National Assembly and the Senate – will be cut by 30 per cent.

The agreement, after weeks of negotiations, spared Mr Macron the need to call a referendum to pass the reforms. Some 15 per cent of MPS in the lower house, which has the last word on legislation, will be elected via proportional representation in the 2022 elections, in a concession to Mr Macron’s centrist Modem party ally.

The last time the proportional voting system was used, the far-right National Front won an unprecedented number of MPS.

Despite winning 13 per cent of the vote in the last parliamentary elections in 2017 under France’s current parliamentary system, the National Front gained only eight seats in the 577seat National Assembly.